From The New Republic:

Trump Moves to Cut Off Student Loans for Tons of Degrees
Under a new rule, if your degree doesn’t make enough money, you won’t be able to get a student loan.

President Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that the Education Department has finalized a rule that will force schools to prove that the loans students are taking out are paying off.

Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music, and cosmetic certification programs will be hit the hardest. For-profit programs will also be hit particularly hard.

While the Trump administration is framing the policy as “accountability” for higher education, and some are welcoming the move, others see it as an attack on those whose work is important regardless of salary.

The Education Department intends to use IRS data to determine students’ salaries four years after they graduate and compare them to those of people similar in age who just have high school diplomas. If they’re below that baseline, that degree will be ineligible for loans.

“We need social workers,” American Council on Education Ted Mitchell told the Times. “Whether it’s the fentanyl epidemic or homelessness in L.A., we need people who can work on the street with people who need it the most.”

Even some on the right are concerned.

“The government shouldn’t punish people who pursue socially valuable callings just because in its judgment they don’t earn enough money,” said Gregory Baylor, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian nonprofit that the Southern Poverty Law Center lists as a designated hate group.

“In certain fields of study, especially in the humanities, whether or not that program has been successful and has done a really good job in its educational mission might not be all that directly tied to immediate earnings potential,” added Stanford professor Jonathan Gienapp.

The policy will be implemented in 2027.

Becca 🎧
@BeccaRBRoyalty
OH? This is going to have massive repercussions. Music is probably one of the clearest examples of what happens when you judge education by immediate earning potential. You can look at someone’s paycheck, but that doesn’t tell you the full story of what music programs produce: composers, producers, educators, engineers, archivists, performers, and all the people who help build and preserve an entire culture.
https://x.com/BeccaRBRoyalty/status/2104621407883677846

@BeccaRBRoyalty
Becca 🎧
@BeccaRBRoyalty
1h
And this is why the music degree part really stands out to me. Quincy Jones spent years talking about musicians and producers losing touch with the musical principles, history, and technique that previous generations were expected to know. He always stressed knowing where you Show more

☆.｡.:* t0m0ko .｡.:*☆
@mootsheep
we need more liberal arts students, not less. we wonder why everyone is getting dumber. we wonder why no one can read. we wonder why everyone lacks critical thinking skills. it’s because higher education is completely inaccessible
11:40 AM · Sep 28, 2026
https://x.com/mootsheep/status/2104612108013027390

@Malinowski
Tom Malinowski
@Malinowski
This is actually crazy. For years, we’ve prioritized scholarships and loans that enable students to choose low paying public service careers like teaching, social work, religious ministries, etc.

Future corporate execs and lawyers aren’t the ones who need subsidized loans!
https://x.com/Malinowski/status/2104597616441033183

Dr. Jasmine Harris
@DrHarrisJay
They want to remove critical skill-building from higher ed.

Going to college isn’t JUST about getting a job. It’s about learning to think, learning to write, learning time management, and group participation. This administration knows that.

This will make students dumber.
https://x.com/DrHarrisJay/status/2104607362426535960

Becca 🎧
@BeccaRBRoyalty
OH? This is going to have massive repercussions. Music is probably one of the clearest examples of what happens when you judge education by immediate earning potential. You can look at someone’s paycheck, but that doesn’t tell you the full story of what music programs produce: composers, producers, educators, engineers, archivists, performers, and all the people who help build and preserve an entire culture.
https://x.com/BeccaRBRoyalty/status/2104621407883677846

Renzo™
@fwrenzo1
Rich people send their kids to $60,000/year private schools, then vote to defund public education. They don’t want school choice, they want their kids separated from yours. Segregation is the goal. “Choice” is the language.
4:10 AM · Sep 28, 2026
https://x.com/fwrenzo1/status/2104499039400087786

Rachel Bitecofer 🗽🦆
@RachelBitecofer
No more musicians. No more actors. No more artists or theologians.

No more social workers.

Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest.
https://x.com/RachelBitecofer/status/2104624298023604530

jezz
@JezziiB
Imagine cutting off federal student loans for programs leading to careers overwhelmingly held by women.

Women make up:
• 80% of teaching assistants
• 81–84% of social workers
• 73–80% of counselors
• 79% of elementary/middle-school teachers
• 85% of special-ed teachers
• 92% of hairstylists/cosmetologists
• 93% of childcare workers

Yup, just a coincidence.
2:14 AM · Sep 29, 2026
https://x.com/JezziiB/status/2104832139661312015

The United States versus Elon Reed Musk
@Needle_of_Arya
America, it looks as if the right-wingers & Libertarians finally won, all those white dudes born from 1946-89 who told you that they didn’t think that people should take up any major at uni that didn’t “earn its keep”

they finally got a president to defund all the humanities
11:11 AM · Sep 29, 2026
https://x.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/2104967421937528870

The United States versus Elon Reed Musk
@Needle_of_Arya
It’s not the government’s business to pick and choose which degrees the DOE will help fund. I thought you right-wingers & Libertarians wanted *less* government intervention in people’s private lives?
https://x.com/Needle_of_Arya/status/2104959456685822269